Presented over the Wildcat "Commentary" series in slightly different form.
There are some people in this world who are simply magnets to the strange, the curious, the wonderful. Polly Thayer Starr is one of those people. Thousands walk along the Esplanade along the Charles River in Boston every day -- but what happens in this story could only have happened to Polly.
Listen on!

Jason Hopkins didn't know how to dance when he was the student body president at his high school. But when he was put in charge of promoting an upcoming school dance, he figured he'd have to learn quick. So he rented Saturday Night Fever and learned all of John Travolta's moves. He had no idea that one day those moves would earn him around $10,000 a year and would help him through grad school.
This story first aired on Sound Money.

Share this piece:

Embed on your website:

Guy Hand, who frequently writes about the media and the environment, takes a humorous, first person look at bad weather and decides he likes it. Through news, film, and musical clips, Hand explains the media's love of meteorological mayhem and how that skewed focus gives the rest of us the feeling we could be flushed, freeze-dried, or fried by bad weather at any moment.
This piece aired on Living On Earth in mid-February 2005.

Embed on your website:

I took a stress test that seemed to include testing my stress level on getting to the stress test. Experimental sound. Kind of annoying. Public radio! Ha! I laugh at you for that thought! Of course not Public Radio. Not unless I ran the show. Be glad I don't. For more information and conversation, visit this feature on Transom.org.

Share this piece:

Embed on your website:

Insomnia. The night seems endless. Your mind races with thoughts. After lying in the dark for a few hours, you begin to drift in and out of consciousness. The mind begins to play games as your thoughts bounce this way and that; memories are distorted and rationalized, reality becomes nothing more than strings of associations and tangents. Feelings of insanity slowly set in. Sydney can not sleep due to impending test results from his doctor. Lying awake in bed, he is plagued with the seemingly endless possibilities of terrible outcomes. Emotional and distraught, he desperately searches for some semblance of meaning in his life. As his inner search deepens, he discovers that the only thing that matters is the one woman he should never have let go.

Share this piece:

Embed on your website:

This is the sound piece that accompanied an installation piece, which can be viewed at the link above. It also stands alone as an audio composition.
The large theme is one of questioning identity and the changing sense of fullness and time in the mind. There are several movements that vary in density volume and texture. It is mostly built of recorded ambient noises, and is peppered with voices and other sounds.